Happy families
Overview
Purpose
To recognise and respond to questions in German that include the use of titles.
Learning outcome
Students are able to introduce themselves and others.
Skills
- Listening
- Speaking
Type
Group activity
Related units in Ja! kit
- Unit 1 Hallo!
- Unit 6 Die Familie
Instructions
The object of this card game is to gain complete card 'families'. There are four cards in each family (mother, father, sister, and brother) and five families in the deck of cards (the Buchholz, Marienfeld, Tischler, Brauer, and Rehder families). Four players is the ideal group size for this game.
Materials
To download the set of five templates for the card 'families', select from the following Word or PDF formats:
- Happy families cards templates for 'Happy families' activity (Word, 3.23MB)
- Happy families cards templates for 'Happy families' activity (PDF, 156KB)
One deck of cards (containing five family sets of four cards) is required for each group of four players.
To download a complete list of the names of all members of the five families, select from the following Word or PDF formats:
- Happy families names template for 'Happy families' activity (Word, 20KB)
- Happy families names templates for 'Happy families' activity (PDF, 7KB)
This template could be copied onto an overhead transparency (OHT) to put up as the students play the games, or a photocopy given to each group.
Steps
- Cards are shuffled and four cards are dealt to each player. The remaining eight cards are placed in a stack in the centre of the table.
- Players take turns (moving clockwise) to ask someone in the group for a card that they need to complete a family, for example:
Hast du Herr Marienfeld?
Do you have Mr Marienfeld? - Players respond 'Ja' or 'Nein'. If the answer is 'Ja', they must hand over the card and the player who received the card gets another turn. If the response is 'Nein', the player has to pick up a card from the centre pile and play moves to the next student.
- When a player completes a family sets, the cards are placed to one side and play continues.
- The winner is the player with the most family sets when all the cards are used up.
Tips
- Encourage use of German during the game with the rule that cards don't have to be handed over if they are not asked for in German.
- Note that these cards could also be used when students discuss and describe their own family in the Ja! kit Unit 6 Die Familie.
Variations
- For a group of up to six students to play, or to lengthen the game, the playing deck needs to be increased. Students could be involved by designing playing cards of their own, using other authentic German family names such as:
- Fischer
- Zimmermann
- Kaiser
- Weber
- Dietrich
- Gerhardt.
- Alternatively, the deck could be photocopied again and colours added to distinguish the new cards from the original ones.
- Develop a set of sketches of four objects, which students could colour in, and use to play a similar game – instead of people forming the families, the aim would be to collect four colours of a certain object 'family', such as suitcases, tables, books, and hats.
Further learning
Practicing formal and informal language
Use this activity to practise using formal language. You could colour code the cards (by photocopying onto different coloured card) or by using one colour for the 'adults' and another colour for the 'children' in the family sets. This will help students know the age of the person they are addressing from the back of the card.
Instructions for playing this game:
- Give each student one card – this is the identity they are acting. (Note that students will need to hold their card close to their chests to keep their identity hidden but still show the colour of the card.)
- Students move around the room introducing themselves to find other family members. Examples of conversations follow.
For asking adults their name:
Guten Tag. Ich heiße Lena. Wie heißen Sie?
Good day. I am called Lena. What is your name?
For asking children their name:
Wie heißt du?
Who are you?
Practicing formal and informal greetings
To practice more formal/informal language conventions, you could integrate the appropriate greetings and farewells of adults and children. Following are guidelines.
- The difference between acquaintances and friends is more important to German speakers than it is inclined to be for English speakers. We are generally much less formal in our language and attitudes.
- Adults who don't know each other or who are not friends (but acquaintances or work colleagues) are greeted/farewelled more formally than we are inclined to in English. For example:
- Guten Tag, Guten Morgen, Guten Abend, Auf Wiedersehen
Good day, Good morning, Good afternoon, Farewell.
- Guten Tag, Guten Morgen, Guten Abend, Auf Wiedersehen
- Children and adult friends greet and farewell each other with any of the (informal) phrases taught in Unit 1 Hallo! and Unit 2 Auf Wiedersehen.
Language to use
- Achtung! Fertig! Los!
Are you ready? - Ich bin fertig!
I've finished. - Gut gemacht!
Well done!